The Observation Deck

Here are the very widely accepted norms for public employees:

Reasonable Expectations That Every Citizen Should Have For Their Public Servants

1. Avoid even the mere appearance of impropriety in the performance of your duties.

2. Perform your duties in compliance with local, state and federal law.

3. Comply with the written ethical standards of the unit of government you represent.

4. Understand the nature of official conflicts-of-interest and avoid them.

5. Comply with the fiduciary duties required by the unit of government you represent.

6. Comply with the campaign finance laws that apply to you as either a public employee or an elected official.

7. Comply with the written ethical standards that govern your own profession.

8. When in doubt about any of these standards, seek clarification from other qualified individuals.

9. Treat the members of the public with honesty and respect.

There is nothing hard about any of this. It is the daily bread and butter of public life.

Mark Kindt wrote:Here are the very widely accepted norms for public employees:

Reasonable Expectations That Every Citizen Should Have For Their Public Servants

1. Avoid even the mere appearance of impropriety in the performance of your duties.

2. Perform your duties in compliance with local, state and federal law.

3. Comply with the written ethical standards of the unit of government you represent.

4. Understand the nature of official conflicts-of-interest and avoid them.

5. Comply with the fiduciary duties required by the unit of government you represent.

6. Comply with the campaign finance laws that apply to you as either a public employee or an elected official.

7. Comply with the written ethical standards that govern your own profession.

8. When in doubt about any of these standards, seek clarification from other qualified individuals.

9. Treat the members of the public with honesty and respect.

There is nothing hard about any of this. It is the daily bread and butter of public life.

Mark

I split this off so that more could see and digest, that while we look at the paperwork, the norms and what people would like, this is what we should all demand.

Thank you for posting.
.

What are the possibilities of seeing this, or something closely resembling it, as a City ordinance or charter amendment?

Dan-- probably easier to get rid of the individuals than to present issues . Stan

Mr. Alaimo:: These are widely-accepted norms through-out many different levels of government in the U.S. The fact that our city is in the 'dark ages' on this never ceases to amaze me. There are some ethics provisions in the proposed Third Amended Charter. It has not been adopted.

"Blown expectations, blow relationships." Vernon P. Essi Sr. (1932-2006)

Brian Essi wrote:"Blown expectations, blow relationships." Vernon P. Essi Sr. (1932-2006)

A Mayor that lied.

A City Council that hid.

A Law Director that withheld public records.

To borrow from Mr. O'Bryan's nod to Neil Young, " Keep on Rocking in the Free World", Mr. Summers.

Note this: You can preach to "get involved". You can slip and you can slide. You can ignore and attempt to normalize this Administration and this City Council. But I'm not buying in.


2017... Marx. Bullock. Nowlin.
Make them pay. Kick them to the curb.

m buckley wrote:

Brian Essi wrote:"Blown expectations, blow relationships." Vernon P. Essi Sr. (1932-2006)

A Mayor that lied.

A City Council that hid.

A Law Director that withheld public records.

To borrow from Mr. O'Bryan's nod to Neil Young, " Keep on Rocking in the Free World", Mr. Summers.

Note this: You can preach to "get involved". You can slip and you can slide. You can ignore and attempt to normalize this Administration and this City Council. But I'm not buying in.


2017... Marx. Bullock. Nowlin.
Make them pay. Kick them to the curb.

Mr. Buckely,

Today, I received responses to 69 records records requests that I served on Records Custodian Butler on September 20, 2016.

I received 1 public record in response to only 1 request. Record Custodian Butler denied the other 69 requests in their entirety.

It took him 170 days to do so.

Leaving aside the issue of the reasons for the denials being dishonest, the 170 day delay in responding seems to "blow" the reasonable expectations of the citizenry that Mr. Kindt mentions in this thread.

Mark Kindt wrote:Here are the very widely accepted norms for public employees:

Reasonable Expectations That Every Citizen Should Have For Their Public Servants

1. Avoid even the mere appearance of impropriety in the performance of your duties.

2. Perform your duties in compliance with local, state and federal law.

3. Comply with the written ethical standards of the unit of government you represent.

4. Understand the nature of official conflicts-of-interest and avoid them.

5. Comply with the fiduciary duties required by the unit of government you represent.

6. Comply with the campaign finance laws that apply to you as either a public employee or an elected official.

7. Comply with the written ethical standards that govern your own profession.

8. When in doubt about any of these standards, seek clarification from other qualified individuals.

9. Treat the members of the public with honesty and respect.

There is nothing hard about any of this. It is the daily bread and butter of public life.

I second Mr. Kuhns’ nomination on the above post as a Post of The Year.

I hope to send laminated copies with refrigerater magnets to all public officials as Christmas presents.

Thank you for your kind comments.

Let me repeat that there is nothing special about this list.

These merely describe widely understood national norms for ethics-in-government that have been common for the past 40 years.

Thousands upon thousands of public employees and elected officials go to work each day across the United States and embody these standards in their commitment to public service.

As citizens, we should expect nothing less.